Canberra Raiders Move Into NRL Top Eight
August 28, 2010
A convincing 48-4 win over the North Queensland Cowboys has seen the Canberra Raiders move into the NRL top eight. They jumped over the Rabbitohs and Broncos to sit in a finals position with one game to play.
The Raiders scored early and often with their first points coming in the 4th minute. It was 44-0 before the Cowboys scored their first points in the 75th minute.
In the other game that had a bearing on the finals race we saw the St George Illawarra Dragons defeat the Newcastle Knights 26-18.
Eels Out of the NRL Finals Race
August 27, 2010
A loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs has seen the one time premiership favourites drop out of finals contention in the 2010 NRL season. It was a must win match for both teams. In the end it was South Sydney who came out and secured the points with a 24-16 win.
Both teams failed to score in the first half. It was Souths who first gave the score keeper something to do when Rhys Wesser scored in the 44th minute. That was soon followed up by a Jaiman Lowe try in the 48th minute.
Parramatta hit back with a try to Justin Horo in the 54th minute but the Bunnies then scored the next two tries to secure the win.
The Rabbitohs are currently in eigth place on the NRL ladder however the Raiders can move into the eight with a win at home against the North Queensland Cowboys.
For now the South Sydney Rabbitohs are just alive in the race for the finals.
In the other Friday night match the Warriors thumped the Broncos to confirm their place in the finals. The score was 36-4.
Canberra Raiders Still in the Hunt
August 12, 2010
The Canberra Raiders kept their NRL finals chances alive after a come-from-behind win at home against the Penrith Panthers.
After going try for try in the early stages of the match it looked like Penrith were safe after setting up a 26-12 lead just before the break. In the second half the Raiders led by Terry Campese took control of the match with three unanswered tries to take the match 30-26.
The win sees the Raiders on 22 points which is four points out of the top eight with four games to play. Penrith missed their chance to make up ground on St George Illawarra in the race for the minor premiership.
Overall the Raiders scored five tries to four.
Season on the Line for Raiders
August 9, 2010
The Canberra Raiders play the Penrith Panthers, at home, in NRL Monday night football. They must win to stay in the hunt for a spot in the top 8.
The Raiders are coming off a big loss at the hands of Melbourne. The Panthers are looking to keep the pressure on St George in the race for the minor premiership.
It will be a tough match to pick as the Raiders want to makeup for perhaps their worst loss of the season last weekend and the Panthers are coming off a less than impressive win over the North Queensland Cowbows.
Roosters on a Roll in NRL
July 31, 2010
This time last year the Sydney Roosters were an embarrassment to fans. As much as I loved Freddy Fittler as coach things were not going well with him at the helm.
Now twelve months later Brian Smith has come in and turned the team around and has given them a chance of challenging for a title. Perhaps saying they could go from wooden spooners to the premiership in one season is wishful thinking but after they crushed the Parramatta Eels who knows.
Last night two teams in good form met at Parramatta stadium. The Eels have seen Jarryd Hayne in fine form just like last season when he took them to the grand final. But that there is the problem. You can’t rely on just one player.
The Roosters could mix up the playmaking through the use of Todd Carney, Mitchell Pearce and Braith Anasta. They allowed the Roosters to run riot over Parramatta and as a result they bagged their fifth straight win in the NRL this season. Until the recent run of form they could not manage back-to-back wins.
Parramatta had gone into the match with three straight wins but now are struggling to break into the top eight.
The Roosters took control of the match early as tries were scored by Mitchell Aubusson in the sixth minute, Shaun Kenny-Dowall in the 12th minute and Anthony Minichiello after 21 minutes. All tries were converted to make it 18-0.
The Eels fought back to give themselves a chance by the half with the score 24-12.
The Roosters kept the Eels scoreless in the second half and piled on the points to win the game 48-12.
Next week they play St George Illawarra in what will be a true test of their premiership credentials. A win could just see them headed for the minor premiership.
As I said to a friend at work when the Roosters were struggling last season, “There is always next season”, and that season is here.
In other NRL scores this weekend the Bulldogs defeated Souths 32-12 on Friday night. The Penrith Panthers also on Friday defeated North Queensland 24-16, and Wests Tigers defeated Cronulla Sharks 24-22.
Queensland Win Game One of State of Origin
May 26, 2010
Four is not enough for Queensland. They are now looking good for five State of Origin series in a row after defeating New South Wales for the first time in an opening match in Sydney since 1998. The final score was 28-24.
After a day of rain the teams were greeted with a greasy playing surface at ANZ stadium in Sydney.
New South Wales got off to a perfect start when a Queensland error gifted them a try in the 7th minute scored by Jarryd Hayne. Queensland then hit back with two tries to go into halftime with a 12-8 advantage. The first was scored by Darius Boyd after 15 minutes and then Billy Slater scored after 34 minutes.
In the second half two tries in the 62nd minute and 67th wrapped up the game for Queensland despite two late Blues tries. Greg Inglis was on the end of a nice back-line move to score in the 62nd minute then a Thurston strip from Blues fullback Kurt Gidley setup Thaiday.
Thurston took man of the match honors after a dominating game that sees Queensland going into the next game with a 1-0 advantage. Playing at home you would have to think another series win is on the cards.
Country Too Good For City in Origin
May 7, 2010
Apart from the Melbourne test match the Rugby League scene saw the annual City versus Country match which was played in Port Macquarie.
The Country team were too good on the night running out 36-18 winners.
Early on it did not look that way as City built a 12-0 lead.
Country came back thanks in part to a man of the match performance by Canberra’s Josh Dugan. He started the try scoring rush for Country in the 28th minute. In the end it was a 6 try to 3 performance that got the Country team home.
Morris Double Gives Kangaroos the Edge
May 7, 2010
Brett Morris scored either side of half-time to give the Kangaroos a narrow 12-8 win over the Kiwis in the Rugby League test in Melbourne on Friday night.
He now has 8 tries from 5 matches playing for the Australian side.
The Kangaroos had built a 12-0 margin in the rain down in Melbourne before the Kiwis made it interesting with two late tries in the 68th and 78th minutes. It was not enough to chase down the Kangaroos.
Australia lost Cameron Smith in the first half with a hyper-extended elbow, an injury that will keep him out this weekend.
Onemansportsnetwork.com for Mobiles
May 4, 2010
Hi readers. I have added a plugin that makes this website mobile phone friendly. If you are sitting on the bus or waiting around for your wife while she is shopping you can fire up the browser on your mobile phone and read some content here at Onemansportsnetwork.com.
Let me know how it looks on your phone. You can twitter me at http://twitter.com/robkeating
You can also check out Socceroos news or other content at http://socceroos.mobi
I will be updating the site more often with short news items covering Rugby League or the NBA finals. Also check here for Formula news on race weekend.
Melbourne Storm Premiers No More
April 22, 2010
In a shocking day of news for Rugby League here in Australia, the Melbourne Storm have been caught exceeding the salary cap. Not for one year, not for two, but for five years.
As a result the team has had three minor premierships and two premierships taken from them. The Melbourne Storm were said to have exceeded the salary cap by 1.7 million dollars over the five years. $700 000 was the amount they went over the cap in 2010.
If the above punishment was not enough the Storm have also been awarded the wooden spoon for 2010. That happened as they were stripped of all points this season and also are not able to win points in 2010.
It was the Salary Cap auditor who hit the jackpot when he found a file in a room near where the legal payments were recorded. This uncovered the fact that the Storm were running two books to pay and retain some of the biggest names in the game.
The Storm has been fined $500 000 and must pay back $1.1 million in prizemoney. The returned money will be divided evenly amongst the other clubs.
The teams defeated by Melbourne in the 2007 and 2009 grand finals are not being awarded retrospective premierships.
Brian Waldron has been named as the architect of this massive cheating scheme. He left the club at the start of the year to head up the new Melbourne Super 15 rugby union team.
You have to wonder how the players feel. They are clearly part of the scheme or did they all just not notice the extra items?
Back in 2002, the Bulldogs were deducted 37 points and fined $500 000 for being more than $1 million over for two seasons. At the time that seemed quite amazing but that is nothing compared to what has been dished out to the Storm. The loss of two premierships is pretty harsh but justified.
With so many games to play this season it now remains to be seen how this effects the club. Also who will still be around for 2011.
This is really not what the NRL wants as they battle for marketshare in the AFL headquarters.
Is this one of the biggest scandals in Australian sport?
